All nations should recognize Islamic State as terrorists - Russia

Universal recognition of Islamic State and the Al-Nusra Front as terrorists will be a key step backed up by resolutions of the UN Security Council, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Russia itself has recently listed the Islamic State (also known as
ISIL, or ISIS) and the Al-Nusra Front as terrorists, outlawing
membership or any support for these organizations under threat of
criminal prosecution.

In its statement, released Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry noted
that Russia’s steps were fully in line with the UN Security
Council’s resolutions 2170 and 2178 on threats to international
peace and security created by terror attacks. As Russia had taken
the most active part in the development of these resolutions, it
now insists that they are strictly fulfilled, the ministry said.

“Russia’s Foreign Ministry is calling upon all countries that
have not yet done so to follow Russia’s example and put the
Islamic State and the Al-Nusra Front on national terrorist lists
and ban their activities, as provided for by corresponding
decisions of the UN Security Council.

Most world leaders now name the Islamic State as a major threat
to humanity. Over the last six months, the group has killed 1,878
people in Syria, mostly civilians, according to British-based
watchdog the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

Around 80,000 militants are estimated to be currently fighting
with the IS, and the group continues to recruit jihadists from
all over the world. It is also considered the wealthiest of all
terrorist organizations, having control of oilfields and
refineries with an estimated net worth of $2 billion.

The Al-Nusra Front – a branch of Al-Qaeda operating in Syria and
Lebanon – has been overshadowed by Islamic State, but it has also
started to make threats to Western nations after the US-led
airstrike campaign against ISIS.